NBA playoffs 2013, Spurs vs. Lakers: L.A. embarrassed in four-game sweep

Or so we thought.

Small problem: Nash was injured throughout and played fewer minutes than at any point in the past 12 seasons, and Howard -- though playing better than Bynum this season -- wasn’t nearly up to his recent standard. Basically, instead of STEVE NASH and DWIGHT HOWARD the Lakers got a part-time Steve Nash and a Dwight Howard impersonator.

Unfortunately for Lakers fans, Bryant’s trip to the bench may have been the only highlight through the game as the Spurs defeated Los Angeles without much trouble.

It was a sloppy game for the Lakers who had as many made field goals (15) as they did turnovers (15) through the first half of play. They cut down on the turnovers through the second half, but the Spurs had already taken control of the game, and the Lakers were unable to threaten the Spurs’ lead.

The Lakers made only one three-point field goal, have turned the ball over 15 times and are down 18 points to San Antonio. To put it into perspective, the Lakers have as many turnovers as they do field goals.

The Lakers were not able to establish Gasol through the first half as the Spurs fronted Gasol and the Lakers struggled with basic entry passes. While Gasol scored ten points, his impact has not been felt. After notching a triple-double in Game 3, Gasol has only four rebounds and one assist through the first two quarters of Game 4.

Gasol told Ding that he injured the finger in Game 3. In that contest on Friday, he recorded a triple-double of 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, but Los Angeles lost 120-89 and fell three games to none against San Antonio.

Additionally, Gasol was already battling soreness in both knees, not to mention a plantar fascia problem in his foot, according to ESPN.

Injuries continue to mount for the Lakers, who will deploy their third different starting lineup in four games on Sunday.

Even before all of the injuries, the Lakers came into this series needing Gasol at his best to stand a chance against the Spurs. He hasn’t been. Gasol is averaging just 13.3 points per game and shooting 43 percent for the series. He has passed well, averaging nearly seven assists per game, but if the Lakers are going to extend this series, he and Howard have to have big games against San Antonio’s depleted frontcourt.

Splitter rolled his ankle in the fourth quarter of San Antonio’s dominant Game 3 win on Friday night. He had to be helped off the floor and limped straight to the locker room. The big man later left the building with an air cast around his leg.

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• LeBron’s mad he didn’t win DPOY

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World Peace came back from meniscus surgery after just two weeks and hasn’t been the same player. He tweeted Friday before Game 3 with a picture of the fluid that was drained from a cyst in his knee — it was gross — that was reportedly unrelated to his surgery. After his awful performance Friday night, here’s what he told reporters after the game, per Pro Basketball Talk:

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Howard told reporters “We can’t make excuses” early on, but his responses from that point on ran contrary to that thinking. He initially lamented the Spurs’ excellent offensive night as a product of the Lakers’ defensive effort, saying, “Next game, we need to do a good job of not letting them get easy looks at the basket.” But he later bristled at a question that brought up the Spurs’ 61 percent shooting from the field.

If there’s solace for Howard to take from a lost season that seems destined to end on Sunday in Game 4, it probably lies at least in part on the likelihood that a playoff exit will keep him from answering questions, at least for a little while.

At least Gasol got a triple-double (11 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists), his first in a playoff game. That it is the first triple-double in an NBA playoff game recorded by a player whose team lost by more than 14 points is probably not particularly comforting.

• LeBron’s mad he didn’t win DPOY

With limited options on offense, the Lakers will need Howard to find ways to score in the post. The Spurs have been aggressive in sending extra defenders at Howard to throw off his rhythm and cause turnovers, and now have even less reason to respect the Lakers from the perimeter. Howard is two losses away from ending his first and perhaps only season with Lakers. Can he carry the team to a single playoff victory despite the injury woes, or will the Spurs key in on the big man through Game 3?

The Lakers lack offensive weapons as they dig to the bottom of their roster. Will there be an unexpected role player to step up and provide positive play for the Lakers in their first home game of the 2013 playoffs? The Lakers don’t have many options left, which opens up an opportunities for players to step up through the remainder of the postseason.

Meanwhile, the Spurs continue to get healthier. It was a situation bad enough to get eternal Lakers optimist Magic Johnson to give up the ghost.

• LeBron’s mad he didn’t win DPOY

Meeks sprained his ankle in Game 1 this past weekend, and he’s expected to undergo an MRI on Thursday.

Finally, Nash is still struggling with the hip, hamstring and back issue that kept him out of the final eight games of the regular season. Despite the limitations, Nash has played in both of the games against San Antonio. The point guard put in nine points and a team-high six assists on Wednesday, but on Thursday he’ll receive his third epidural injection on the bum hip.

The L.A. Lakers do not appear to have miracles up their sleeves. The team fell behind the San Antonio Spurs, 0-2, on Wednesday; unsurprisingly, the Lakers’ poor bench -- a unit stretched even thinner by injuries to Kobe Bryant and Jodie Meeks -- was destroyed by that of the Spurs. While San Antonio has a nice offense, L.A.‘s resistance was just so futile: the Spurs scored their 102 points in just 86 possessions, for an offensive rating of 119.

The series shifts back to STAPLES Center, where the Lakers are better, but likely still not good enough to win two to even the series. And even if they did, they’d still need to win one in San Antonio eventually, a task looking ever more impossible with each game. If the Lakers fail to advance, we’ll have seen the team’s earliest ejection since 2007, which is when Kobe Bryant last made a trade demand.

The veteran point guard logged 31 minutes in the Game 2 loss, and admitted after the game that he “tweaked” the injury during play and felt it get worse throughout the game (via ESPN):

Game 3 at STAPLES Center is set for Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The Spurs shot a blazing 51.2 percent from the field and 50 percent from the three-point line.

The series will now shift to Los Angeles, where the Lakers will host the Spurs at 10:30 p.m. ET at Staples Center in Game 3. The home team in the NBA playoffs is 14-2.

This is the million-dollar question when talking about the Lakers in any context, but it holds especially true with a team that executes as flawlessly as San Antonio. All eyes are on Howard as he begins to look healthier each game, and is becoming the player Lakers fans gushed over before the season began.

The Lakers are doing a fine job overall in Game 2 largely due to Howard’s effort. His activity has manifested itself as he’s totaled three blocks and the fact that he’s changed several other shots.

Facing the Spurs in Game 2 on Wednesday night, the Lakers will need a much stronger effort to avoid a 2-0 series deficit. That starts on offense, where L.A. needs to get more from its best players.

Though the Lakers were one of the best offensive clubs in the league this season with Bryant in tow, his absence radically changes the way the offense runs. Without his ability to handle the ball and create looks, L.A. needs to execute at a much higher degree of efficiency to fill the basket.

How can the Lakers avoid a 2-0 hole before heading back to Los Angeles? They have to make the Spurs pay when they pack the paint.

In his first game back in a month, Steve Nash was out of sync and missed plenty of open shots. The Lakers need to continue giving Nash an opportunity to get back into rhythm in Game 2 before changing their gameplan drastically. It’s natural to expect an adjustment, but in Nash’s case, it’s worth playing the historical odds again with the quality of looks the Spurs were giving him.

After undergoing surgery for a torn labrum in late January, Hill was expected to miss the remainder of the season, but he steadily progressed as his team battled to reach the postseason. Once the Lakers got in, the team announced that Hill would not play in the first round, but his return has apparently been expedited.

Game 2 begins at 9:30 p.m. ET on TNT.

You heard it. Everyone heard it. According to almost any talking head, including Kobe Bryant from his bed at home, the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t do a good enough job getting the ball into the low post in their 91-79 Game 1 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

Do they have a point? It depends on how you frame the argument.

... and D’Antoni rolled his eyes, made a sarcastic comment and dismissed Bryant’s advice by calling him “just a fan right now.” Which, of course, Kobe took offense to with this tweet heard ‘round the interwebs.

You can’t compete against a legend. So don’t set up your team and your employees for the crazy comparison! Giving the job to the able Shaw in 2011 would have prevented a lot of this nonsense. Kobe, close with the coach, would have gone out of his way to make the transition smooth. (I think.) Jackson would never have flirted with a return. (I think.) The Lakers still wouldn’t have competed for a title last season, because players matter more than anything, and the Lakers didn’t have a roster nearly as good as that of Oklahoma City. But L.A. would have been able to cleanly move away from the Jackson era.

With Kobe Bryant injured, the Los Angeles Lakers’ gameplan is clear: get the ball into the post, where you have an incredibly skilled 7-footer -- Pau Gasol -- and one of the most imposing physical specimens in the league -- Dwight Howard. Their best hope for offense would come from the post, from Pau’s creativity or from Dwight’s strength -- or some combination of the two.

Kobe Bryant knew it:

Thanks to the handy dandy Twitter machine, Kobe got to share his thoughts with the world all afternoon as he watched the Lakers fall to the Spurs, 91-79. And it got really, really awkward by the end of the game.

At this point, you can hear Mike D’Antoni yelling, “Shut the hell up, Kobe. We know.”

Manu went 3-for-4 from downtown, half of his 18 points. And although Tony Parker was an inefficient scorer -- he needed 21 shots for his 18 points -- he had eight assists, getting past his man at will and kicking to shooters. It’s the same as it ever was, and it still wins.

They each had moments of brilliance, including several thunderous slams by Howard in the second quarter that recalled his freakish youth of the Orlando days, and much of that came off of pretty passing by Pau.